Page:Poems of Anne Countess of Winchilsea 1903.djvu/512

 374 THE POEMS OP ANNE �Shall with a stricter grasp embrace the Elm, Whilst joyful Birds shall hail it from the Branches. �Herm. No; I have spoke too much Since on these Plains no syllable is secret. Hereafter my close thoughts shall be confin'd, 100 �And in this Breast lock'd up from all Men's Knowledge. �dim. Oh! not if Love be there; it cannot be: Silence can ne'er last long, nor yet conceal it, A thousand ways 'twill speak without a Voice, And, whilst it struggles to obtain that Freedom, Betraying Sighs will 'scape, and more declare it ; 'Twill speak in list'ning to the Lover's Tale, And say, 'tis Sympathy that makes it pleasant. �Herm. He shakes my Soul, whilst thus he do's describe it : For all he speaks I feel, and he must find. [Aside. HO �Oh! yet, let me reflect upon my Birth, And quit, in time, the Ground I can't maintain! �[She's going. �dim. Nay, do not fly me, and I will be Speechless: For if I speak, whilst on your Eyes I gaze, It must be all of Love, and that offends you; Yet since, perhaps, I ne'er may meet you more, I wou'd have told the Story of my Heart, And e'er it breaks, have mov'd you to Compassion. �Herm. Meet him no more ! then, what can Crowns afford �me, �Amidst the noisie Pomp, that waits their Lustre? 120 �Still shou'd I vainly listen for the Sound [Aside. �Of such soft Words which charm my Sorrows from me. Oh! that our Births were equal, as our Thoughts! Yet I will pity him, and Fate be guilty. �[She stops and turns towards him. �dim. Blest be the Thought, that thus retards your steps, And turns again those gentle Lights upon me! ��� �